A gift of health for the Ottawa Senators

SHORT HILLS, New Jersey – The Ottawa Senators could receive a huge boost in the mad dash to the Christmas break.

Top centre Matt Duchene is expected to re-join the lineup for Friday’s game against the New Jersey Devils and it’s possible that defenceman Dylan DeMelo could also return.

Duchene, who skated on a new-look line with Chris Tierney and Mikkel Boedker at Thursday’s practice, had registered eight goals and 14 assists in 14 games before suffering a groin injury against Montreal on Dec. 4. DeMelo hasn’t played since suffering an upper body injury against Pittsburgh on Dec. 8.

With the bolstered lineup, the Senators have an opportunity to rapidly close ground on a playoff spot in the next few days. After facing New Jersey, the Senators immediately fly home to face Washington Saturday before enjoying an extended holiday hiatus. Earlier in the week, Boucher confirmed that Craig Anderson would start in goal.

Brendan Gallagher of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his third period goal as the puck bounces in off the leg of Craig Anderson and Ben Harpur can’t reach the puck to stop it crossing the goal line in the third period on Thursday.Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photo /
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“These could be two of our biggest games of the year so far, before the break,” said rookie Colin White. “To go into the break on a winning note … if we do that, with these two games we could be above .500 and in a pretty good spot.”

The Senators, 15-16-4, will be facing a Devils squad that has gone all the way from a playoff berth last spring to the Eastern Conference basement. The Devils will also be not so fresh from playing in Columbus Thursday and the game against the Senators will be their third in four nights.

“We’re professionals,” Duchene said, when asked about keeping focussed on what’s directly in front of them. “I would expect every guy in the room to take care of business. We (will) have four days off. I don’t recall ever having four days off for Christmas since I’ve been in this league. We have to take advantage of that, but we have work to get done first.”

The return of Duchene changes the dynamics of the roster rather dramatically.

While Senators coach Guy Boucher has spent the past few weeks trying to plug big injury holes, centre Jean-Gabriel Pageau is now the only remaining forward on the sidelines.

“It’s gigantic for us,” said Boucher. “We know he’s a big part of this team, one of the pillars, for sure. He’s a point per game player. If you count all the games that there’s a one-goal difference, that’s a lot of games. He’s one of those guys who is a game-breaker, just like (Mark) Stone.

The Senators have won only four of 16 road games this season, largely a product of the home team taking advantage of match-up situations because they own the final line change.

In an intriguing move, Tierney, typically a centre, will start Friday’s game on left wing with Duchene and Boedker. Before Duchene’s injury, that left wing spot had been held by rookie Drake Batherson, who was re-assigned to Belleville of the American Hockey League earlier this week.

Boucher hopes that by moving the veteran two-way Tierney to a wing with Duchene, he can address some of those concerns.

“He’s a smart, reliable guy,” said Boucher. “All year, we’ve had top end players and older guys taking care of younger guys and grooming them, with all sorts of experiments. That’s what we need to develop (long-term). But every time Duchene is on, (the opposition) puts better players on and it makes it tough to have a reliable line for 60 minutes.”

In theory, Duchene says, it’s possible that the line can deliver layers of speed on the rush.

“I’m really excited to play with him,” said Duchene. “He’s a smart player, with great hands and he slows the game down. With (Boedker) and I going up with speed, we could be tough to defend.”

Given his absence, though, Duchene would be happy playing with anyone.

“It has only been a couple of weeks, but it felt like a couple of months,” he said.

Boucher says he’ll likely go with an alignment of 11 forwards and seven defencemen against the Devils, meaning that either Nick Paul or Tom Pyatt will be a healthy scratch.

Vinnie Hinostroza of the Arizona Coyotes and Dylan DeMelo of the Ottawa Senators skate after a loose puck during the second period of the NHL game at Gila River Arena on October 30, 2018 in Glendale, Arizona.Christian Petersen /
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DeMelo is crossing his fingers that he’ll be able to return as one of the seven on the back end.

“It’s feeling pretty good,” said DeMelo, who has served as a solid playing partner for Thomas Chabot.

“We’ll discuss and see. The past week has been really good and I’ve been making good strides, hoping for (Friday). It’s not something I could play through. I need to take some time with it.”

If DeMelo returns, the Senators will have eight healthy defencemen, meaning that Boucher will be forced to sit somebody out. Justin Falk, who has played the past nine games since signing an NHL contract with the Senators, could be the odd man out.

WHITE LOOKS TO DUCHENE AS ROLE MODEL

Colin White insists he didn’t feel any additional pressure to produce while Matt Duchene was missing with a groin injury.

It does, however, sound like he missed watching Duchene perform.

“Some of the things he does with the puck, how he creates time for himself in the corners and backs guys off with some of his spin moves….a lot of that stuff is fun to see,” said White. “I’m trying to pick up some things like that, some of the cutbacks, but I’m still working on it.”

White has been on a roll of his own lately, registering two goals and five assists in his past seven games, while playing on a line with Mark Stone and Brady Tkachuk. With nine goals and 14 assists for the season, White ranks second in rookie scoring behind Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson.

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